I know the injury stuff stinks but nothing has been season ending yet. Just gotta fight through it. The nice things in the non con there's some breaks between games to rest up.
Illini Basketball 2025-2026
- Status
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Spoiler: no it won't.
Well, maybe it will because ESPN is acknowledging it.
www.espn.com
Well, maybe it will because ESPN is acknowledging it.
2025-26 men's college basketball power conference rankings
Which league will produce the 2026 national champion? We're tracking the power conferences on the road to the Final Four.
It’s time to live up to the hype….Spoiler: no it won't.
Well, maybe it will because ESPN is acknowledging it.
View attachment 44790
2025-26 men's college basketball power conference rankings
Which league will produce the 2026 national champion? We're tracking the power conferences on the road to the Final Four.
View attachment 44789
We should have a thread where we list all of the excuses why the B1G never lives up to the hype in the tournament.
Refs don't call the games in the B1G like other conferences. Too physical.
The B1G tournament is late, too close to tournament, so it wears out the top teams.
There are a lot more...
If Duke or Kansas or North Carolina were in the B1G, would the B1G still be without a championship since 2000?
For the time being we're #3 in KenPom and closer to being #1 than we are #5.
If I'm not mistaken, they are waiting for football start times. So we probably won't know until next Sat or Sun.
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
He sure solidifies that 4 spot for us. I for one didn’t expect that level of play out of him when I first heard of his commitment.
I am always shocked when Underwood makes a good personnel decision. It's too bad he can't coach.
On the women's side, nice win over ISU. ISU is very talented and the favorite to win their conference (MVC). For Illini, the real Gretchen Dolan is busting out. She can score from all three levels, and as she continues to gain confidence, she's going to be terrific. I'm sure glad we got her.
Are we going to go all year with these types of comments?
For the record, the personnel decisions last year and three years ago basically sucked. So perhaps we can wait on evaluating this season's decisions until we see how things pan out. Underwood’s a good coach. He's not above criticism.
We always go all year with these types of comments
But we always go all year with the opposite type of comments too... an exceedingly high volume of them during in-game & post-game threads
I've just come to accept this place for what it is: a bunch of raging lunatics who love Illinois bball & fball
Very true - even the Illini reporters who watched preseason practices were saying he wouldn’t start.
If Mirk is even 80% of what he appears to be after a few games- he solves almost everything we were worried about coming into the year.
Lunatic rebounder that plays with an edge
Facilitator and creative passer from inside the lane
Can hit the open three
Plays with toughness on defense
He’s a big key to our ceiling this year IMHO
Can we get this on a bumper sticker?a bunch of raging lunatics who love Illinois bball & fball
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
Will be interesting to see Mirk defending some of the more mobile/athletic 4’s. The one knock on him could be pure athleticism (which I selfishly hope means he’ll be here for a while). You can use intelligence and balance and footwork to make up for some of that, but I’m curious how he deals with someone scoring on him, blowing past him, etc. Will it get in his head, or will he stay focused and concentrate on playing his game? Excited to find out.
I don’t know about if someone blows past him, but in the FGCU game when he was way out ahead of everyone and missed that easy layup (announcers said it looked as if it slipped out of his hands) he immediately ran back to get into his defense. Too often it seems when a freshman misses an easy-ish shot, he will try to get the ball back with an attempted steal and foul instead. I was glad to see Mirk didn’t try that.
Mirk does that for certain....but he is still getting his feet wet. By Jan. of 2027, if he is still around, he should have learned his lessons and be effective against anyone.
The TT game and a handful of others will really be a classroom for Wagler and Mirk to soak up a hundred lessons while still trying to play at a level on both ends to help the Illini win. Without experience, that is unknown.
For sure, it will be a tough go at times. That is when coaching really gets tested. Also, if Tomi is unavailable, keeping Z out of foul trouble becomes paramount to success. That will not be easy as TT knows they need to get him on the bench and put even more pressure on Mirk, Ben, and maybe even JJ to play strong. Mirk will be challenged for the first time and how he responds will be critical. Lots of things that got done well in earlier games will not even be available.
But a good thing that will help was the Fla. scrimmage we all did not get to see. Let's hope those wounds have healed and lessons not forgotten. TT is not Duke 2025, but they will not be bullied. Playing at SFC should be huge in an Illini victory. Go Illini !!!!!!
The TT game and a handful of others will really be a classroom for Wagler and Mirk to soak up a hundred lessons while still trying to play at a level on both ends to help the Illini win. Without experience, that is unknown.
For sure, it will be a tough go at times. That is when coaching really gets tested. Also, if Tomi is unavailable, keeping Z out of foul trouble becomes paramount to success. That will not be easy as TT knows they need to get him on the bench and put even more pressure on Mirk, Ben, and maybe even JJ to play strong. Mirk will be challenged for the first time and how he responds will be critical. Lots of things that got done well in earlier games will not even be available.
But a good thing that will help was the Fla. scrimmage we all did not get to see. Let's hope those wounds have healed and lessons not forgotten. TT is not Duke 2025, but they will not be bullied. Playing at SFC should be huge in an Illini victory. Go Illini !!!!!!
Noblesville Illini
- Nappanee, IN
Some IL members when we’re losing…
Criticize away, it's a free country (and message board).
The teams you're highlighting both were 20 win teams that made the tourney; one of them had 2 first round draft picks (possibly a 3rd if Tomi gets healthy) and the other had a player with his jersey hanging in the rafters, the following year Beast's 3rd leading scorer and an all conference AAC player.
Has Brad won every recruiting battle he (probably) should have? No. Has he brought in some knuckleheads? Sure. Is it a bit silly to complain about the best coach and longest run of success in 20 years? Probably.
Well, we now know your expectations. They are different than mine.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
- Status